Was it Southend that HeavyLift or Air Foyle used to operate out of? Just checked the "London Southend Airport" site and apparently Vulcans, Hercules and Belfasts have operated from its 1605m long runway, is this long enough for a 747 to operate from (LBAs main runway is 2200m)?

Others that spring to mind are Aberdeen, Norwich and Coventry but just thoughts rather than anything definite. Are there any other joint military/civilian runways, in the Scottish Islands for example? Could sites that handle civilian traffic (or have done as I don't know their current status), such as Filton and Woodford, handle a 747?

According to a government website, NQY's runway is 2,700 metres in length. "The main runway is long enough to operate most wide-body aircraft without restriction and is the largest at any of the principal airports in the South West." Indeed, its runway length is 347 metres less than MAN's runway 06R/24L (at 3047 metres) and 287 metres less than PIK's runway 13/31 (at 2987 metres). In contrast, it's 95 metres longer than BHX's runway 15/33 (at 2,605 metres) and 346 metres longer than CWL's runway 12/30 (at 2,354 metres).

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All definitely visited by 747, though in the case of Bruntingthorpe and Kemble, only on the way to the scrap merchant

I'd agree with XXXX10 about SEN... no chance! CVT is the same, runway too short, ABZ and NWI are possibilities as is EXT...I remember seeing a L1011 there being very very carefully marshalled off the runway...

I would think that for many smaller airports the limiting factor would be passenger safety in and around the terminals rather than the number of 747s that could actually be parked. Manchester, for example, coped with the sudden influx of traffic for the Champions League Final, I doubt that the facilities at LBA, HUY, MME, etc could handle the thousands of extra passengers a significant number of jumbos would bring.

I guess you'd need to know how many check-in desks there are at each airport, how many passengers per hour they can process and try guesstimating the answer from there (assuming they were all to take-off again at about the same time). The same would go for baggage handling, re-claim etc for the arriving passengers. The Leeds/Bradford site does have a map/plan showing all the stands, taxiways etc, it's under pilot information. Is each stand big enough to hold the largest plane the airport can handle or would a 747 take up two (or more) stands at somewhere like LBA?

The vast majority of airports could not handle 747 passenger operations along side normal services without causing disruption.

Alot of the airports aren't even commercial airports, don't have terminals or have only small terminals and limited apron space. Sure, its technically possible for a 747 to land and takeoff at these places, but off-loading/boarding passengers, fuelling and taking off are all difficult.

With the exception of those airports who already have, or used to have regular 747 passenger services, very few if any of those airports could operate a service without any disruption, or at all.